North Smithfield downs Lincoln to win tournament
Editor’s Note: Because of inaccuracies in the official scorebook, names in last Thursday’s story were misspelled. The correct spellings are in the updated story.
WOONSOCKET — The last time North Smithfield Little League won the District IV Major Division all-star tournament, not only were the kids on the field Wednesday night in the Jimmy Fund tournament final not born – their fathers likely weren’t old enough to be on the team.
North Smithfield hasn’t won a Major Division title since 1981, but there’s a group of 8-, 9- and 10-yearolds who hope that this summer they are part of the turn around for North Smithfield baseball.
While the league didn’t enter a team in District IV play, a talented group of all-stars made the short trip to Lajoie Field to compete in the annual Jimmy Fund tournament. After comeback victories over Cumberland, Lincoln and Smithfield to earn a spot in the title game, North Smithfield produced another comeback win to claim the title.
Nicolas Marsh’s two-run single in the fourth inning tied the game, and Jayden Lynch’s run on a wild pitch put North Smithfield ahead for good because before NS pitcher Willy McNeil could throw a pitch in the fifth inning, lightning forced the game to be halted and North Smithfield was declared the tournament champion, 9-7.
“It’s been a while,” North Smithfield coach Dan Voyer said about bringing a banner back to Pacheco Park.
“There was a lot of doubt before this started – people who doubted us before aren’t doubting us now. It all boils down to heart. We were down nearly every game and fought back and came out on top. They never give up.”
McNeil personified North Smithfield’s resilience and love of baseball. The starting first baseman, who earned the victory by stranding a pair of runners in the fourth inning, had a chance to sit in the Monster seats at Fenway Park Wednesday night, but he chose to join his teammates at Lajoie Field. McNeil went 0-for-2 but his commitment to the team didn’t go unnoticed.
“He picked North Smithfield baseball over Green Monster tickets and I’ll never forget that,” Voyer said.
Lincoln, which was the defending tournament champion, led 3-0 after the first inning and also had a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning. Reserve Chance Paquette led the offense with a pair of hits, three RBIs and a run scored, while third baseman Liam Mulligan had an RBI single and scored a run in his only plate appearance.
Braden Lynch, who scored twice, scored the first run of the game when Paquette singled off of lefty starter Jake Voyer in the first. Lincoln starting pitcher Ashton Robert followed with a tworun single to score Will Davis and Paquette.
North Smithfield answered with four runs in the second thanks to walks and wild pitches. Jayden Lynch, Marsh, Logan Robertson and Cody Roy all scored against Robert.
Voyer, who struck out four batters in 3.2 innings, allowed four runs in the third inning. After Noah Champagne (single) and Tyler Pelosi reached base, Mulligan, Logan Xianhos and Paquette produced RBIs to put the visitors up 7-4.
“I don’t have to say anything to the kids, they know not to give up,” Voyer said about his team falling behind. “They’ve been through this before. I’ve coached a lot of these kids during town ball and all-stars in the past, so they know.”
Calum Nordan, the only eightyear-old on the roster, scored an unearned run in the third inning, but Champagne stranded a runner on third base with a strikeout to keep the lead at two.
After Voyer and McNeil combined to throw a scoreless fourth, North Smithfield took the lead for good. With one out, catcher Koda Small (walk), Voyer (error) and Lynch (walk) loaded the bases for Marsh, who cracked a two-run single to tie the game. Lynch scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch and then Cody Roy scored Marsh with a single.
“The kids said they wanted a championship and they came out here tonight and did it,” Zach Voyer said. “This is pretty sweet. I’ve told these kids from Day 1 that I hate to lose more than I like to win. They made it easy on me. It’s a pleasure, there’s no place I’d rather be.”